The present invention relates to containers for storing magnetic tape cassettes or similar information carriers.
Known containers of the type under consideration include a slide which receives and holds a magnetic tape and which is displaceable in the housing of the container from the inserted position to the extended or opening position by means of a helical spring. This helical spring is positioned, for this purpose, between the inner rear wall of the housing and the rear wall of the slide. Thereby the helical spring does not deflect laterally as the slide is inserted into the housing, and it is necessary to guide the helical spring laterally. Consequently, as the slide is actuated considerable spring-related noise occurs, arising from the friction between the turns of the spring and the adjacent guide surfaces.
The use of helical springs is problematical in particular in conjunction with the slides which travel a considerable distance between the inserted position and the outwardly extended position. Where the path of the slide is long, there are inevitably considerable differences in the spring tension, and even in the opening or extended position of the slide the spring tension must still be sufficiently strong to hold a magnetic tape cassette stored on the slide against its own weight securely in the opening position of the slide. The result of this is that the helical spring is respectively strongly pre-stressed in the inserted position of the slide, whereby, if the slide is inadvertently unlocked, this slide is catapulted out of the housing, which is, of course, undesired.